Man Gets $600,000 Award For Accidental Lock-Up In Chicago Jail

While visiting his son, prison guards left him alone in a maximum security cell for 32 hours without food or water.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois confirmed on Monday a $600,000 settlement with a man who prison guards accidentally locked up while visiting his son, the New York Daily News reports.

In July 2014, a guard at the Chicago jail directed Farad Polk to wait for his son in a cell used as a visiting room for high-security prisoners. A steel door shut behind him. After waiting for five minutes, Polk realized that something was wrong.

According to The News, guards could not hear the man yell for help because it was the weekend and the room was not being used.

Polk broke a water sprinkler after 36 hours of being trapped without water, food or a toilet. The Chicago Fire Department rescued him.

Adding insult to injury, NBC News Chicago reported that guards handcuffed and questioned Polk before releasing him. Polk claimed in his lawsuit that he suffered emotional trauma, believing that he would die in the cell.

A jail spokesperson called the incident a “perfect storm” and reiterated on Monday that officials are “grateful” that Polk survived the ordeal, NBC reported.